Sustainability

UHasselt puts sustainability first in its education, research and services as well as in its further development and growth. Join our efforts to make UHasselt more sustainable.

The UHasselt is setting its sights on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The donut is our moral compass for our sustainability policy. Read more about it below.

To make UHasselt a little more sustainable every day, 6 sustainable goals were formulated. To make this happen, all services of UHasselt are called upon.

• Goal 1. The transition to a carbon-free, circular and climate-adaptive building stock by 2050 is a clear compass and long-term benchmark for every new construction or renovation project
• Goal 2. The Diepenbeek campus and the Hasselt city campus continue to develop according to the vision of a sustainable campus
• Goal 3. UHasselt actively invests in growing a proactive sustainability commitment among students
• Goal 4. The staff of UHasselt is a partner in the realization of an authentic sustainability policy
• Goal 5. Every student at UHasselt develops sustainability competencies
• Goal 6. Through its research, UHasselt creates a lever for a sustainable world in dialogue with social actors

Choose for walking, biking, public transport or carpool. Read all about the UHasselt mobility policy here.

UHasselt staff can find more information on mobility on the intranet.

You can read the new sustainable travel policy with all its terms and conditions here. (pdf, 85 KB)

Hasselt University has made a commitment to be CO2 neutral by 2050. Flights are responsible for 3.5% of CO2 emissions in Europe . That share is growing rapidly. This is why Hasselt University is taking the first steps towards a more sustainable travel policy. Discover below what changes are being made to the travel policy.

1. Think carefully about whether it is worth making your journey.

Hasselt University has invested heavily in video conferencing in recent years and our meeting culture has also changed drastically in recent years. Should you meet completely online, in person or in a hybrid format? The choice is yours. But always think carefully about whether or not to make a journey. A few tips:
○ Don’t travel for one-to-one meetings
○ Don’t travel internationally for meetings of less than 4 hours
○ Make agreements with international research partners about your attitude to travel.

2. Short journeys: opt for a bicycle or public transport

A very easy way of reducing your ecological footprint is to use a bicycle or public transport instead of a car for short to medium distances. To give you a bit of extra help, Hasselt University provides free electric bicycles that you can use for a work trip.

If there is no alternative and you really do need to travel by car, you can use a Hasselt University electric car.
Note: you can no longer claim a kilometre allowance when using your own car for journeys of less than 5 kilometres (such as between Diepenbeek campus and Hasselt campus).

3. Opt for the train for destinations that can be reached by rail in under 8 hours.

Taking the train or bus instead of the plane really does make a big difference. Bond Beter Leefmilieu summarises this nicely in this article. For a flight to Vienna, the climate impact of flying is seven times greater than taking the train. That is why we ask every Hasselt University staff member to take the train to destinations that can be reached by rail within 8 hours. We monitor the data available through our travel agency Omnia.

Would you like to know which destinations you can reach by rail in less than 8 hours? The FWO has produced a clear map. These websites can also give you further help: Direkt Bahn Guru (lists direct rail connections from every station in Europe) and Night Trains Europe. Who knows, you might end up having an adventure on a night train.

Share your train photos or train story with Hasselt University’s Green Office: #GreenOfficeUHasselt or greenoffice@uhasselt.be. Inspire others with your travel story.

4. Offset your flight’s CO₂ emissions

Hasselt University expects you to offset your flight’s CO2 emissions. This has been a general practice at various other universities for several years now.

• Are you flying using Omnia? Travel agency Omnia offers CO₂ offsetting of approximately 25 euros per ton through a partnership with Greentripper. This finances climate projects and is monitored by an independent agency recognised by the UN. Greentripper donates the money to the Ghana project. (pdf, 13.8 MB)
• Are you not flying using Omnia? If you are not flying using Omnia, you can still opt for CO₂ offsetting with most providers.

Did you know? We assume that you will use the travel agency Omnia Travel, with which Hasselt University has a framework agreement. Discover the benefits here.

Did you know? That most research funds and funding bodies accept CO₂ offsetting as an expense? See the overview here.

5. Some final guidelines if you do take the plane

• You must travel economy class
• Avoid stopovers and transit flights, replacing them with the train where possible
• No creative ticketing (where a return ticket is booked, but only the outward flight is used)

Three faculties are participating in a pilot project to see how they can take further steps towards an ambitious travel policy. ARK, BEW and REC have taken up the challenge.

Sustainability steering committee

The steering committee strives to make UHasselt sustainable in all possible areas, ranging from campus management to education and research. Therefore, the group is broadly composed of employees and students (through the Green Office) who will use their interest and/or expertise to realize the sustainable goals for UHasselt. Depending on specific projects, other experts can of course also join. The steering committee cooperates intensively with departments and faculties so that sustainability becomes a spearhead within the entire organization.